Raul: Oh goodness one memorable person. My initial reaction to your question was the guy who was letting us in the apartment that we rented for the week. We rented an apartment. We found a great deal on-line right by the square actually.

Chris: Interesting.

Raul: Getting off the tracks at the train station, this guy met us at the door. The guy spoke perfect Spanish. I’m a Spanish speaker, a native Spanish speaker. This guy spoke it like me, but he was Polish. Just very surprising how just getting there I immediately meet someone who lived in Mexico I don’t know how many years, 2 years, three years and spoke beautiful Spanish. As well as obviously English, which was the language we started communicating through. He kind of set a little bit of tone for the town. It may not be the center of power anymore in Poland but it still is an important city in Poland and it’s not a provincial town. It has a feel. It’s a real international city, but yet of a very manageable size. It’s not like going to London or Rome or places like that. I mean, it’s much more manageable, but yet it has all that flavor. It’s as alive as a large city is. And I think that guy gave me that sense from the first moment I got to Krakow.

Chris: Ok, as we go to wind this down, finish this sentence for me. You really know you’re in Krakow when ________what?

Raul: Well, I was going to say when it’s bitterly cold, but that’s because I went in winter. It was amazing because I thought well this is the stupidest thing I’m doing going to Southern Poland in the middle of winter, but I think we were there in a warmer week for them. Everyone was out and about and you just felt alive. I don’t know if it was just the weather or what but it felt alive to me. Even with the cold weather, even with no outdoor seating in cafes because it was too cold.

Chris: Sure.

Raul: People were out and about. We drew energy from that. We used to walk in the crowds at rush hour just because you felt good.

Chris: And if you had to summarize Krakow in three words, what three words would you use?

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by Chris Christensen

I am the host of the Amateur Traveler. The Amateur Traveler is an online travel show that focuses primarily on travel destinations and what are the best places to travel to. It includes both a weekly audio podcast, a video podcast, and a blog.